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Smooth sailings on first day of school for Forsyth County

No injuries in lone bus accident, enrollment tipping upward

According to school officials, the first day of the new year went smoothly.
- photo by Micah Green

Updated:
Aug. 4, 2017, 6:54 p.m.

Though numbers fluctuate for the first month or two of each school year, it appears Forsyth County Schools is continuing its upward trend of adding students to its schools each August.

First-day attendance numbers from each of the 37 public schools in Forsyth County show 46,720 students went to school on Thursday, Aug. 3.

“[We’re] still registering new students,” said Jennifer Caracciolo, spokeswoman for the school system. “We won’t see numbers stabilize until after Labor Day.”

Those fluctuations occur when students who were registered do not show up, move away or are not back from family vacations, and families often register children after the first day.

Caracciolo previously told the Forsyth County News the projection for stabilization is about the four-month mark, when district officials have predicted the total number of students to break 47,000.

Though parents often take their kids to school on the first day instead of putting them on the bus, bus routes are typically delayed the first few days while bus drivers get used to routes and safety procedures and motorists get used to the increase in traffic.

The last Elementary I bus to get to school Thursday morning arrived at 7:34 a.m. and left at 2:57 p.m., while the last Elementary II bus to do so arrived at 8:33 a.m. and departed at 4:15 p.m.

The latest middle school bus pulled into school at 10:02 a.m. and out at 5:42 p.m.

In high school, the last bus got to school at 9:03 a.m. and left at 4:23 p.m.

There were no major incidents throughout school or on bus routes, except one minor accident.

“[A] Lambert [High School] bus was involved in an accident with two vehicles [Thursday] afternoon,” Caracciolo said. “[There were] no injuries, and we sent another bus to continue the route.”

While there are more students in class and being transported to and from school, no new schools opened this year. Brandywine Elementary and DeSana Middle began their first year in existence last fall, and the break this year will be filled with a redistricting process to populate Denmark High, which will open in fall 2018 near the other two new schools in southwest Forsyth.

The Alliance Academy for Innovation of Cumming-Forsyth County will also open next year, but there will be no mandatory attendance or zoning as it will be an alternative high school for which students apply.